Australia officially listed koalas along much of its eastern coast as “endangered” on Friday, with the marsupials suffering the consequences of bushfires, land clearing, drought and disease.
Environment Minister Sussan Ley has classified these koala populations as “endangered” to provide them with a higher level of protection in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Queensland.
Conservationists say the koala population has crashed across much of eastern Australia over the past two decades and the animal is on the verge of extinction in those areas. While they welcomed the minister’s announcement, they also condemned the authorities’ failure to protect the species so far.
The koala, a worldwide symbol of Australia’s unique ecosystem, was listed as “vulnerable” on the east coast a decade ago.
“We are taking unprecedented action to protect the koala,” said the minister, highlighting the government’s recent pledge to spend 50 million Australian dollars (31 million euros) to protect and restore koala habitats.
Koalas have gone from “vulnerable to endangered in the space of a decade. It’s a shockingly rapid decline,” said Stuart Blanch, conservation specialist at WWF-Australia. .
“Today’s decision is welcome but it will not prevent koalas from sliding towards extinction unless it is accompanied by tougher laws and incentives for landowners to protect their habitat. forestry,” he added.
The Scientific Committee for Endangered Species, an independent government agency, estimated that the koala population had risen from 185,000 in 2001 to 92,000 in 2021.
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For Alexia Wellbelove, of the Humane Society International, koalas on the east coast could disappear by 2050 if nothing is done.
“We can’t afford any more land clearing,” she says.
Australian Conservation Foundation studies show that the federal government has approved the clearing of more than 25,000 hectares of koala habitat since the species was declared vulnerable.
“Australia’s environmental laws are so ineffective that they have failed to stem the continued destruction of koala habitat in Queensland and New South Wales for the decade the species has been believed to be protected”, denounced Basha Stasak, an official of the foundation.
“We must stop allowing their habitats to be razed for mining, housing or agricultural projects and industrial logging,” she added.
Before the devastating 2019-20 fires, koalas were already at risk from land clearing, drought, disease, collisions with cars and dog attacks, said Josey Sharrad, an official with the International Fund for Animal Welfare. .
“We should never have allowed things to get to the point where we risk losing a national icon,” she said.
“The bushfires were the straw that broke the camel’s back,” she said. “It must be a wake-up call for Australia and the government to act much faster to protect critical habitats from development and land clearance and to seriously address the effects of climate change”.
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